Automatic take-up reel.



G. W. LORI'MER. AUTOMATIC TAKE-UP REEL; APPLICATION FILED .APB,.20,41911.

Patented Mar.9,1915.

24 SHEETS-SHEET l.

E P A IED RKE 0 A L LTH -M,N. Wwm .0M I L P P A MER. v

UP REEL.

lPatented Mar. 9, 1915.5 2 SHEETS-SHEFT 2.

WIT/VESSES I'. t ATTORNEYS UNITED sTaTEs PATENT onirica.

GEORGE W. LORIMER, OF PIQUA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO SAND 'MIXING MACHINE COMPANY, 0F GREENFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

AUTOMATIC TAKE-UP REEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

Application led Apiii 20, 1911-. Serial No. 622,195.

T0 all 'whom it m ly concern.'

Be it known that I, Gnoncn W. Loninnir, a citizen of the United States. and a resident of Piqua, in the Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic T ake-Up leels. of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to take-up reels'` toi' automatically paying out and taking up ano electric or other cable in such manner that. the cable will always be kept under tension.

The reelv is particularly useful for winding up and. paying out a llexible conductor which may be attached at one end toa source of electric current such .as a wall socket, the other end being carried by the reel, and which serves to supply current to a movable carriage or vehicle to drive the same or for other purposes.

An object. of the invention is to provide improved and simplitiedmeans for taking up and payingout a flexible conductor carried by a reel which travels bodily about i 'floor or other area whereby the conductor di' cable is maintained under tension.

The invention will be Shown and described as applied to an electricinotor driven niachiiie for cutting and mixing sand operating by traveling over the sand heaps located on the floor of a foundry. As the machine or carriage necessarily has to operate on'different parts of the floor at various times and must at times travel through an irregular course, it is iii'ipractical to conduct the current for operating the motor from a fixed trolley wire as in the case of traction systems.. By practising this invention the electric current for driving the carriage is taken tlirough a lexi le cable or conductor which at one end is plugged into a wall socket or other suitable source of current supply, thev other end being secured to the reel mounted upon and carried by the machine in its travel and havingr mechanism connected therewith for operating the reel, whereby the cable is automatically taken up and paid out by the reel in such manner that the cable is always kept, under tension while the machine is tra `reling, thus keeping it oif the tlooi and :free froui entanglement.

lVhile the invention is shown as carried into eii'ect with :i machine of the above type, it will be understood that this use is for the purposes of illustration only and the iii-.cn-

tion is'not limited thereto, as it may be emplayed:l for various other rises Without departing from the spirit thereof and it will be understood that all such other uses to which the invention is applicable are intended toillustrates a side elevation of a traveling4 sand cutting and mixing machine equipped with my invention. Fig. 2 is an'enlarged side elevation of the take-up reel. Fig 3 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 4, 4.- Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the driving sprocket for the reel. Fig. 6 is a central vertical section through the detail shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an enlarged section through the reel commutator and the reel sprocket.

In the drawings A. indicates a traveling sand cutting and mixing machine of the general type set forth in my prior patent for sand cutting machine N o. 973,523, dated October 25, 1910, except that the machine in the present case is driven by means of an electric motor, whereas in the patent a gaso- Vlcne engine for driving the machine 1s shown.

In the present case the electric motor (not shown) is mounted on the frame of the machine, the end of the motor shaft being indicated at l. The motor shaft l is suitably geared to a counter or traction shaft 2 which in turn drives the wheels 3 of the carriage through suitable sprocket chains 4 and also rotates the cable reel as will be hereafter described. rlhe shaft 2 is driven forward or reverse by suitable gearing or otherwise to propel the carriage in either direction desired.

5 indicates the cable reel secured to a shaft 8 suitably mounted to rotate in journals forincd in brackets or standards 6, 7 secured to and rising from the frame of the machine. The tiexible conductor or cable 9 is detachably attached at one end to a source of current supply such as 'the wall socket 10 and passes through a swivel guide 1l carried by a bracket 12 to the drum of the reel.5.

r forth.

This end of the cable is bared land the Wires attached to binding posts 13, preferably one on either side of the reel, which pass through the side plates ot' the reel and' are secured to commutatore 14 carried by the reel shai't 8. The binding. posts are suitably insulated from the .reel as, shown, -the commutatore being also insulated from theshaft by inm sulation bushings l5 and v'vashers or plates of insulating material 16, 17.

18 indicates a sprocket Wheel preferably loosely mounted on the reel shaft 8 and held between collars or disks 19, 20, the disk 19' being keyed or otherwise secured 'to the shaft 8. Washers 21 of any suitable cornpressible material such as. leather are superimposed on each side of the sprocket 18 between it and the collars 19 and 20. The collar 2O preferably has a more or less free longitudinal movement on the shaft 8, but is held from independent circular movement by a leather 50, While the collar 19 is rigidly held thereon, the collar 20 being pressed against the sprocket 18 by a compression spring 22 held compressed between the collar and a nut 23 threaded on the end of the shaft 8. On rotating the sprocket 18 the reel shaft 8 is driven through the rictional engagement of the sprocket and collars 19 (and 20, the spring 22 exerting a more or less pressure due to the regulation of the nut 23. By this' device a more or less slip is provided between the driving sprocket 18 and the driven shaft 8 for purposes hereafter set 24 indicates a sprocket Wheel loosely mounted on the traction shaft 2 and connected to the sprocket 18 on the reel shaft by a sprocket chain 25. The sprocket 24 is held from, longitudinal displacement on the shaft between a ratchet disk 26 fast on Y the shaft 2 and a'fcollar 27 suitably secured to said shaft. A pauf128 pivoted on the'side of the sprocket 24 engages the teeth of the ratchet 26, a spring 29 keeping the same pressed against said teeth. On rotation. of the shaft 2 in one direction, the ratchet and pavvl connect the sprocket 25 to the shaft 2 and the reel is rotated through the chain 25, sprocket 18 and friction clutch on the reel shaft 8. On rotation of the shaft 2 in the reverse direction the pavvl 28 merely clicks over the teeth on the ratchet 26 and the sprocket 2e remains free of the shaft 2.

The sprockets 24: and 18 are preferably so designed that they tend to rotate the reel 5 faster than the drivingwheels 3 of the carriage are driven,thus at all times keeping the cable 9 under tension. 1t will be noted that the reel' 5 is positively driven in one direction bythe paw] and ratchet connection but when the carriage travels in the reverse direction the rcel is uncoupled from the driving power and capable of loose rotation in the bearings of the shaft 8.

.ery or the cornrniitator.

merece 30 indicates a movable arm preterably" pivotally mounted on abracliet 31 supported on but insulated from a platform 32 projecting from the reel standards 6, 7. The arm 30 is provided with a semi-circular cavity in. its free end and in said cavity is mounted flexible metallic sheets such as l15o-r instance Wire gauze of very fine mesh. is pressed in the direction of the commutator 14 by a spring 38, thereby pressing the wire ,gauze into engagement with the periphl The gauze makes contact with the coluirnutator over the plane surface of the gauze which conforming itself to the periphery of the commutator and owing to the cavity in the arm rnalres a generally semi-circular contact With said commutator. This construction gives a large Vcontact surface and permits an equally perfeet connection irrespective of the direction of rotation of the reel, and therefore the coinrnutator, as Well as preventing cli-:king and jumping of the brush when the comino tator is rotating backward. Conductors 154 secured to the brushes 30 carry current in any suitable manner to the motor for driving the carriage.

The operation o the take-up reel it is thought is obvious. The carriage A being caused to travel in a forward direction. the traction shaft 2 rotates in the direction of the arrow X Fig. ii. eOn rotation in this direction the reel is coupled to the driving mechanism and Winds up the cable 9. 0n

causing the carriage to travel backward. the ltraction shaft rotates in the reverse direction and the pawlV merely clicks over the. teeth on the ratchet and the reel is free from the driving mechanism, the cable unwindiug merely by the pull of the carriage. Villen Winding up the cable the reel tending to rotate faster than the driving wheels 3, more or" less pull is exerted on the cable, which causes a slip to occur between the sprocket 18 and'collars or disks 19, 2O and prevents the plug being pulled out fromV the Wall socket 1G, the amount of slip however being so adjusted or regulated by the nut 23 that the cable still remains taut or under tension. The amount of slip or friction in the clutch can be thus adjusted for the diliferent lengths of cable which may be employed and therefore the diderent amount oi' pull required to keep it taut.

t will be understood that my invention 1 not limited to the various details of construction and operation shown and described MEE biit various modifications and equivalents of the same may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or" the invention and all such modifications and equivalents are in; tended to be included in the appended claim What I claim as my vinvention is: In an apparatus ot' the class described the combination of a movable carriage and its i driving mechanism, a shaft mounted on said carriage, a ifeel Ilxed on said shaft, o, flexible cable having one end secured at a fixed pointand the other connected to said reel, a counter shaft driven by said driving mechanism, :i sprocket wheel loose on seid reel shaft, :i pawL and ratchet device on said Counter shaft, means for drivin@ said sprocket Wheel from said counter shait through said pawi and mohet device, a pair of friction disks keyed to said reel shaft and between which said spocket -Wheei is heid an@ a spring ten sion device for coupling said sprocket wheel to said reel Shaft.

Signed nt Pique in the county of and State ofF Ohio this 15th day of April, D. 1911.

GEORGE W. LQRMER.

' Witnesses:

GEORGE A. VAUGIER, EDWARD R. CAS-*12s.

Miami l5 

